The controversy dates back a full eight decades, to the Thirties, when a local councillor – one Wright Harris – earned a reputation for authoritarianism in his self-appointed role as overseer of harbour fees.

Mr Harris had a habit of watching boats come and go from a viewpoint above the town known as Cliff Park.

His unstinting dedication to his duties caused residents of Mevagissey to begin referring to the beauty spot as ‘Hitler’s Walk’ – in a mocking jibe at both Harris’s officiousness and the then-rising Austrian politician.

The joke may have been a slice of defiant British humour in the face of events in Germany, but the amusement value looks to have been lost to the passage of time. And few people were laughing when Mevagissey Parish Council announced plans late last month to reinstate a ‘Hitler’s Walk’ sign at the site.

The coastline around Mevagissey has high vantage points (Photo: AP)

A sign had previously indicated Mr Harris’s chosen vantage point until it was removed – amid criticism – in 2005.

A meeting on January 22 heard that a quote – of £147 – had been obtained for the restoration of the sign. The plan has since been placed on hold for further discussion in the wake of a fierce backlash.

Officials from Cornwall Council have suggested the move would be harmful to the town’s image.

Detractors say the reference to Hitler would damage the town (Photo: AFP/Getty)

And Kehillat Kernow, which represents the Jewish community in Cornwall, has said that any reinstatement of a "Hitler’s Walk" sign would be "shameful".

"It is completely and utterly ludicrous," says the organisation’s chairman Harvey Kurzfield. "It would be a shame, and it would bring shame on Mevagissey."

There has also been anger on Twitter, with @WatergateBayAm describing the plan as "crass insensitivity" and @Bulloverman likening it to naming a park after Moors Murderer Ian Brady.

However, the move has also been defended by residents who say "Hitler’s Walk" is not only the commonly used name for the vantage point – but that it was coined before the outbreak of the Second World War, and should be immune to revisionism.

John Olford, who was a parish clerk when the sign was removed in 2005, is a vocal supporter of its possible return.

"It’s about time," he has told the Cornish Guardian. "It has been called ‘Hitler’s Walk’ since the Thirties.

"Then some idiot who was an incomer said: ‘Oh, you can’t call it "Hitler’s Walk".’ I’m delighted it’s being put back up."